I’m not the glue in Pakatan, Selangor crisis proved it, says Anwar

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is humble about the role he played in bringing together the three parties in Pakatan Rakyat, and says he does not believe he is the 'glue' to hold the coalition together. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, October 25, 2014.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim believes that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) would survive even if he returns to prison, saying this has been proven by what transpired within the coalition after the Selangor menteri besar (MB) crisis.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insider yesterday, Anwar pointed out that PR was able to form a state government with PAS, DAP and PKR even though PAS had broken ranks throughout the impasse.

In spite of all the acrimony in the crisis in which everyone thought the coalition would break up, Anwar said PR was still able to pull together after the new MB was chosen.

After the Selangor crisis, PR leaders including from PAS, came together to craft a shadow budget that was supported by the coalition’s three parties.

Anwar described the claim that he was the glue that held PR together as something "spread by supporters who wanted to boost my ego".

The reality, he said, was that the leaders of the three parties had strong relationships forged in the coalition's inter-party committees such as those on the elections and the budget.

“Their roles should not be diminished. There is not much truth to the belief that Anwar is so important for Pakatan, or that the leaders of all three parties are so important.

“It is probably good for my ego but as a fact, it is not true,” he quipped during an interview with The Malaysian Insider at his home in Bukit Segambut, Kuala Lumpur.

There is not much truth to the belief that Anwar is so important for Pakatan, or that the leaders of all three parties are so important. It is probably good for my ego but as a fact, it is not true. – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Next week, the Permatang Pauh MP's fate, and that of PR, will be known when the Federal Court decides whether or not to upheld his conviction on a second sodomy charge.

Ties between the three component parties have been fully repaired after their recent clash over replacing Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as MB.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and the party’s powerful Shura Council had publicly opposed Khalid’s removal as demanded by PKR with support from DAP.

When PKR and DAP nominated PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to replace Khalid, Hadi declined to do so even though leaders in PAS’s central committee supported Dr Wan Azizah.

The debate in PAS over whether to go with its coalition partners had deepened the rift in PAS between Hadi’s faction and leaders in the party’s elected central committee.

At the time, observers believed that the crisis would split PR or it would lead to a split in PAS.

At the height of the crisis, Anwar’s role as a peacemaker was almost insignificant in trying to persuade PAS to back PKR and DAP’s decision on who the new MB should be.

When Anwar, who is the PKR de facto leader, had gone to see Hadi to try and persuade the latter to back PKR and DAP, Hadi was rumoured to have berated him.

If Anwar is sent to jail again, some believe that PR would have a harder time holding together given the ideological differences between PAS and its partners.

Yesterday, however, Anwar defended the PAS president, saying that he disagreed with the view that Hadi was an obstacle to PR unity.

“I do not agree with the negative view that people have about Hadi. I may not agree with him in everything, but in this issue (PR unity) ... He was with us in Parliament and we had a long discussion.

“He may not come to Pakatan meetings because of illness or he is overseas. But he sends a full team (of top decision makers).”

Anwar however, was non-committal on who would replace his role in PR if he goes to jail.

“They have discussed this before. It goes back to our original understanding. Wherever the (PR presidential) meetings are held, they are chaired by the host.

“So if it’s at PKR, Wan Azizah will chair it, at PAS, Hadi will do it and the same with DAP.”

The coalition he said was more structured than when it was formed in 2008, with many inter-party committees where leaders worked together.

“We have the election committee, the secretary-general committee, periodic meetings between menteri besars and chief minister.

“Things are announced by senior leaders but it’s our younger leaders who do it, such as in the shadow budget, we had (PKRvice-president) Rafizi Ramli, (PAS central committee member) Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, (Johor DAP chief) Liew Chin Thong.

“The same with the election committee with (PKR deputy president) Azmin Ali and (PAS central committee member) Dr Hatta Ramli.

“The roles these leaders play should not be diminished”.

- TMI